Boris Kotlyarsky admitted in Manhattan federal court that he convinced the target of the plot, Oleg Mitnik, to pay him and hit man Boris Nayfeld $125,000 to cancel the killing, which was ordered by Mitnik’s father-in-law, Anatoly Potik.

Mitnik forked over a $50,000 down payment in January after Kotlyarsky repeatedly contacted him about Nayfeld’s “reputation for violence and connections with organized crime,” prosecutors said.

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Kotlyarsky, 68, pleaded guilty to extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion, which each carry prison terms of up to 20 years.

But in a plea agreement with feds, he faces a sentence of between just over three to a little more than four years.

Kotlyarsky was set to begin trial in November.

“As Boris Kotlyarsky has admitted, he took cruel advantage of a desperate situation, giving a victim the extortionate choice between paying off his hit man or death,” said US Attorney Preet Bharara in a statement.